DISAPPEARED
by Saeshmea
Summary: Martha and Lionel are going to have lunch together, but she never comes to the restaurant. Martha has disappeared and Clark, Lionel and someone else will have to be friends to find her safe.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, I'm sorry… another plot. I've had this on my mind for a long time but I never liked it when I wrote it down… I hope you enjoy the story.

**Disappeared - 1**

.

Martha was finishing wrapping up Clark's birthday present when she suddenly heard him coming down so she quickly manage to hide it behind her back.

"Good morning" he said coming into the sitting room and kissing his mother's cheek.

"Morning, sweetheart" she said nervously "…and happy birthday"

"What are you hiding?" he asked.

"Nothing!" she exclaimed walking backwards to the table, looking for her handbag so she could hide the little box.

"Is it my birthday present?"

"Clark! It's a surprise… don't look, please… You'll have it tonight"

"But I do want to know what it is…"

"No!" she said, but then she noticed that look on him, that deep and concentrated look that could only mean he was looking through her "Clark!" Martha yelled out after a silence.

"What?"

"I told you a hundred times not to do that!"

"I-I'm sorry… I won't do it again… I…"

"Is everything alright?" she wondered "You saw it… I wanted it to be a surprise"

"No, no… no… I didn't, I swear... I… Mom, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

"Actually there is, I'm meeting Lionel after my appointment with the doctor, so I'm having lunch in the city … You don't care, do you?"

"No, of course not… Have fun with your boyfriend, I'll see you tonight" he said.

"He's not my boyfriend" Martha replied on a childish tone.

"He better be…" Clark whispered so low she couldn't hear.

* * *

Around two o'clock Clark was having lunch alone in the farm when the phone rang.

"Kent's farm"

"Clark?" Lionel Luthor's voice asked.

"Lionel… hi" the boy replied wondering why was he calling at that time when he was supposed to be eating with his mom.

"Is your mother home?"

"She isn't. You were having lunch together, weren't you?"

"We should be… I've been waiting for her for an hour now, and she doesn't answer my call on her mobile phone."

"She had an appointment with her doctor at half eleven, I'm sure she left the office late… I'll call the clinic to check"

"Ok, I'll stay in the restaurant just in case she appears"

….

A while later, Lionel did saw a familiar face coming into the restaurant, but it wasn't Martha.

"Clark, what are you doing here?"

"I've called to my mother's doctor… she hasn't gone to her appointment this morning. Lionel, I don't know where she can be"

"Ok, don't panic… At what time did she left the farm?"

"Around nine o'clock… do you think she could have had an accident on the road?"

"No way… but we'll call the police just in case"

"They won't do anything until twenty-four hours later…"

"I have contacts, I'll have all the city's police looking for your mother in ten minutes, don't worry…"

* * *

…

* * *

Back to earlier that morning… Martha took her things and left the farm after telling Clark she wouldn't be home for lunch. He'd been joking about her and Lionel since she'd started to be more open about their relationship with him, what made her think that he'd already guessed they had something else than just friendship, but also that he accepted that fact.

On the road to Metropolis, Martha noticed the car behind her coming closer, so she went a little faster because it always annoyed her to have another car stuck to her while she was driving, but then the black car in front of her stopped all of a sudden and she had to brake the car not to crash. "Are you crazy!" she shouted right when she noticed two guys coming out of the car in front of her, with their faces covered and carrying guns on their hands. She put the reverse, but there was the other car blocking her way.

"Open the door" said one of the guys aiming her from the other side of the window.

Martha unlocked the car and the man asked her to move to the copilot sit. The other armed guy sat behind them and then they continued their way following the black car.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"You should keep your mouth closed, ma'am" the man from the back said while she felt the cold metal of his gun on her neck.

.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. Chapter 2

**Disappeared – 2**

**.**

"There's no trace of her…" Lionel said going into the house after Clark had opened him the door. " They haven't even found her car…"

"How can someone disappear like this?" Clark said letting his body fall onto the couch, devastated.

"The question is who would make your mother disappear like this" Lionel pointed. "This is a professional thing… but we should have already received a call or a note…"

"What are you talking about?"

"A kidnapping" Lionel told.

"What?" and the boy almost let go a laugh "Who would kidnap my mother?"

Right then the doorbell rang. Clark ran to the door and without asking he opened it and surprised himself.

"Granddad?"

"Hello, Clark" he said "May I come in?"

"Sure, please…" Clark let the man go inside and closed the door after him "Oh… this is…"

"Lionel Luthor, everybody knows who he is. Nice to meet you"

"This is my grandfather, Lionel…"

"William Clark" and both men shook their hands.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Clark"

"My mom's not home, granddad, but if you wish…"

"I know she's not home, Clark… that's the reason of my visit"

"Wh-?"

"Here…" and the man took out a DVD from his pocket "I was sent this a couple hours ago, you should watch it".

Wondering what was in that DVD, Clark play it and the three men sat together in front of the TV screen, which suddenly showed an almost-crying Martha, trembling of fear, looking at them from the other side of the crystal.

"_Dad…" she suddenly talked "I… I know we don't have a good relationship… but… we do love each other, right? … These guys say you're the only one who can take me out from here… I don't know what they want you to do but… I'm scared…" she said breaking down into tears "… please… I can't leave Clark alone yet… he needs me…"_

"_Ok, that's enough" said a guy who suddenly appeared in front of the camera with his head covered._

"_Dad, please, tell Clark I love him and… and Lion- AH!"_

"_Enough I said!" the man yelled out standing behind Martha and grabbing her hair making her scream. "You have a very pretty daughter, William… I'm sure you don't want me to send you her body in pieces"_

"What's this about?" Clark said after the video was finished.

"Who are these guys, what do they want?" Lionel added.

"A couple days ago it started Harry Taylor's trial…"

"Who's that?" Clark wondered.

"One of the biggest drug dealers of the city, he's accused of many crimes, such as murder and prostitution"

"Exactly… and I'm the one defending him"

"How can you…?" Clark replied, but Lionel stopped him so William could continue.

"The thing is, I told him he wouldn't be able to get rid of going to prison this time because there are too many proofs against him… he got mad. He said he would destroy my life, I told him I would do my best but…"

* * *

_A few days ago…_

"_I don't want you to do your best, William… I want you to crush that fiscal attorney and make me go back home after the trial…"_

"_Mr. Taylor, I can't assure you that…"_

"_William, William, William… You know it's not good to upset me, especially when my boys have been watching your daughter for days…"_

"_Martha?"_

"_Yes… You never told me about her? Is it because you're ashamed that she left with a farmer instead of following her daddy's steps?"_

"_How did you find out?"_

"_I have my ways… you know it…"_

"_Stay away from my daughter"_

"_I will… if make me get rid from going to prison"_

* * *

.

"I thought he was just trying to scare me… It never occurred to me he would actually do something like this…"

"So they won't let my mother free until you win the trial"

"That's what they say but… there's no way I could win that trial… unless we find a way to destroy the fiscal's proofs against Taylor"

"Let's destroy them, then…"

"Wait" Lionel interrupted the silence stopping Clark "You can't destroy some FBI evidences so easy… it may have taken years to collect them…"

"We're talking about my mom's life, Lionel… I thought you had feelings for her"

"I do… but… that guy has killed a lot of people, thanks to that guy there are lots of teenagers drugging themselves in the streets… do you really want him to win? Do you really want to help a guy like that?"

"I just want to help my mother, she's scared, she's waiting for us to do something"

"She is" Lionel said, with a strange emphasis on his voice. "Mr. Clark" he turned around to Martha's father "I'm sure you need to prepare that trial… and while you do that, we'll investigate a little on our own… if you receive any news from Martha, let us know"

"But…" he hesitated "Ok… I'll do…"

"Here" and Lionel handed him a piece of paper "That's my Metropolis' apartment address… we'll meet there at dinner time"

"Ok, see you later. It's been a pleasure, Mr. Luthor… and, I've loved seeing you again, Clark"

"Bye, granddad" Clark waited until Mr. Clark was gone to turn back to Lionel "What do you have in mind?"

"Let's listen to that video again…" he said.

"What do-?" but Lionel ignored Clarks reply and just play the DVD again.

"_Dad… I… I know we don't have a good relationship… but… we do love each other, right? … These guys say you're the only one who can take me out from here… I don't know what they want you to do but… I'm scared…" she said breaking down into tears "… please… I can't leave Clark alone yet… he needs me…"_

"There" Lionel said.

"What?" Clark wondered "I don't see anything weird"

"You don't need to look, you need to listen, and with your powers, please…"

"What?"

"When she stops talking… looks like her lips are trembling, but she's whispering something… you can listen to it, Clark, only you can… it must be a message for you"

Clark took the remote from Lionel's hands and played it again, this time, concentrating his hearing power on his mother's voice…

"_Dad… I… I know we don't have a good relationship… but… we do love each other, right? … These guys say you're the only one who can take me out from here… old farm"_

Clark suddenly stopped the video.

"So?" Lionel asked.

"You were right, she's saying something to us… She said 'old farm'"

"They must have taken her to an old farm… Let's watch some more…"

"_I don't know what they want you to do but… I'm scared…" _it was then when she began to cry, but… among her sobs, Clark could listen something else_ "two hours far… please… I can't leave Clark alone yet… he needs me… find me" _

And then he noticed that look, his mother was looking at him… she was asking him to find her… she didn't trusted his granddad to help her.

"_Ok, that's enough" _Clark was taken back to reality with the guy's voice… then he stopped the video, there was something on that moment… he played it once again, this time, trying not to listen the man's voice.

"_we took the expressway, direction to Kansas"_ she said so fast he had to play it twice to understand every word. After that, she gave no more clues.

"Does she say anything else?"

"She's in an old farm, about two hours far, going to Kansas, by the expressway"

"Smart girl, Martha" Lionel whispered.

"There are thousands of farms in Kansas, Lionel… Do you really think we can find her?"

"She wants us to do it…" he answered, and then looked at his worried look "What's wrong?"

"There's something… I think you should know"

"What is it about?"

"This morning… I looked through my mother with my x-ray vision and…"

"What's wrong, Clark?" Lionel asked, getting worried.

"Nothing… I guess… I mean… I saw… I think… she's pregnant…"

"Pregnant? Are you sure?"

"I know I saw something, I don't know if… but I'd swear it was… a little person"

"Ok…" Lionel said getting some air and breathing hard "Go with Chloe, I'm sure Mrs. Sullivan we'll be able to help you find that farm… We'll meet at my apartment at dinner time, ok?"

"Where are you going?" Clark asked, surprised that Lionel had taken those news so calmly.

"We'll need to know where those evidences are just in case something goes wrong" he said "We can't let anything happen to her…"

.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	3. Chapter 3

**Disappeared - 3**

.

"What do you want from my father? Why did you have to do this?" Martha asked while one of the guys was taking her somewhere grabbing her arm.

"Shut up!" the man said stopping in front of a door and opening it "What you should be doing now is pray for him to do what we asked…" the man pushed Martha into the room and she felt to the ground "… because if he doesn't… you'll be dead…" then he closed the door.

Martha looked around her, the room was empty. There was another door at one side and a little window with a broken crystal. She first walked to the door, and as she'd supposed, it took to a bathroom which smelled like if something had dead in there. The window wasn't locked, but Martha quickly noticed two guys guarding that part of the house… There was no way to escape…

She sat on the floor and while her eyes got lost in the drawing of the old wallpaper, she wondered if Clark would listen to her clues on the video…

"Of course he will, Martha" she said to herself "Clark's a clever boy, he'll get it… if dad shows him the video…" she added, doubtfully "I wasn't very kind with him the last time we talked…" she curled herself against the wall and closed her eyes.

* * *

_Two years ago…_

_The phone was ringing at the Kent's farm but nobody was answering it._

_"Clark? Clark, can you take that phone, please?" but there was no answer… Martha guessed her son wasn't at home so she abandoned her bed's sheets and walked downstairs on that grown she hadn't taken off for days "Yes?" she answered the phone._

_"Hello"_

_"Who's that?" she wondered._

_"Don't you recognize me, dear?"_

_"Dad, is it you?"_

_"Hi, Martha" Mr. Clark said from the other side "How are you doing?"_

_"I've been much better" she said, not willing to sound nice "Why are you calling?"_

_"I've heard about Jonathan… I just wanted to…"_

_"I didn't see you at the funeral" she interrupted her father._

_"Well, I…"_

_"You've been out from my life for twenty years, dad… I don't need you back now… You can keep your condolences..." she hung down the phone and bit her lip hard while trying to stop the tears that wanted to come out._

_"Mom, are you ok?" Clark's voice asked from behind her._

_"Hi, sweetheart… I'm just fine" she said, still crying._

_"Oh… mom" he said, quickly embracing her._

_"I'll stop… I promise"_

_"You don't need to… its ok to cry… At least, it's nice to see you out from the bed" he kissed her forehead and she smiled._

* * *

…

* * *

"So it was you who called" Clark said to his granddad while they were waiting for Lionel in front of his apartment building.

"I just wanted her to know I was sorry…"

"It took weeks for her to stop crying, because I know she cried every night until falling asleep…"

"She really loved him" Mr. Clark said.

"She did… Sometimes I feel like if she didn't have me she would have dead with him… but it's different now"

"What's different?"

"Well… she's found someone that makes she smile again"

"I hope I do know this someone" Lionel's voice surprised the two men.

"Hi Lionel… we were beginning to think you weren't coming"

"It took longer than I thought… let's go to my apartment, I took some Chinese food on the way"

* * *

Once upstairs, Lionel left on the table of his penthouse a box and a bag with Chinese food.

"What's this?" Clark asked, pointing the box.

"These are the documents and proofs the FBI are keeping for the court"

"Are you crazy? You can't take this with you!" Mr. Clark yelled out.

"We have to be sure we'll take Martha back with us safe in one way or another…"

"How have you taken this with you?" Clark wondered.

"I can't tell you… but don't worry... we just have to take it back as soon as we make sure your mother is alright… so," he said "What about you? Did you have luck with Mrs. Sullivan?"

"Here…" Clark took out a map and opened it on the table "There are a lot of farms in that zone, but I think if I go there I could be able to find it…"

"Of course you will… we'll go there on the morning"

"I could go alone now"

"No… we'll go tomorrow, during the trial"

"What about me?" William asked all of a sudden.

"You have to be in trial so they don't notice we're trying anything" Lionel answered "As soon as Martha is with us, we'll make you know"

"Where's that food you've taken, I'm starving" Clark interrupted the silence.

"Here… You're right… we should eat, and relax… everything will be fine"

"You have the right to be worried, Mr. Luthor" Mr. Clark suddenly said "You don't need to act like if you had everything under control…"

"We'll find her" Clark added "… and then we'll know if I was right…" he said, not willing to mention the pregnancy in front of his granddad since they didn't know if it was true or not.

"Has your mother ever told you how we started to go out together?"

"No…"

"It took weeks for me to convince her to have dinner with me… She's so stubborn… But I can be too, so I guess she got tired of me first, and finally accepted" Lionel told "We went to a nice restaurant in the center, after dinner I asked her to dance… She was stunning that night, she was wearing an amazing red dress and she'd curled her hair… Later, after a few songs, it happened… we kissed each other…"

"You don't need to tell me the rest" Clark joked.

"Don't worry, there's no rest… after that, she said she wasn't feeling ok, so I took her back home. That's all"

"That's all?" the boy asked sure that Lionel was hiding something.

"Yes… nothing happen that first night…"

* * *

…

* * *

_A few months ago…_

_._

_"Debbie, dear, do you mind serving that table, please?" Martha asked to one of the waitress._

_"No, of cou-… isn't that Mr. Luthor again?" the girl wondered from the other side of the bar._

_"He is. That's why I'm asking you to serve him, please" Martha whispered._

_"Mrs. Kent… I don't think Mr. Luthor comes here twice a day just for the coffee, you know…"_

_"Debbie, please, if you don't go to that table he'll come to the bar… and I really don't want to talk with him today…"_

_"I'm afraid it's too late, already" the girls said, mischievously smiling while leaving her alone._

_"Hi, Martha" Lionel's voice said behind her._

_"Lionel!" Martha exclaimed turning around "Wh-what would you like to have?"_

_"I'd like to have a few words with you, please… you left in such a hurry yesterday that…"_

_"I'm working now" she said, not sounding nice._

_"Alright… then I guess I'll have a cup of coffee and one of your delicious muffins…" he said._

_"Ok… you can go and sit down, now …"_

_…_

_Behind the bar, Martha handed Deborah a tray with a cup of coffee and a plate with one of her muffins on it. "Take it to Mr. Luthor, please"_

_"Mrs. Kent… I thought you were braver than this"_

_"I'm not frightened of him" she said._

_"Then, why can't you take your order to your costumer?" the girls asked, making that mischievous look again._

_"Alright, I'll do it!" Martha finally accepted feeling challenged "…but you'll have to remember me why I haven't fired you yet"_

_The girl just smiled looking how her boss walked to the table where Lionel was sitting._

_…_

_"Here, a coffee and a muffin" Martha said "It's 2'50$, please"_

_"Why don't you sit down for a while with me?" Lionel said._

_"I have work to do"_

_"I won't pay you if you don't sit down"_

_"It's on the house" she said turning around._

_"Martha, please…" he insisted "We're adults, aren't we? Yesterday we were dancing together in one of the most beautiful restaurants in Metropolis and… all of a sudden you beg the other waitress to serve in your place. What have I done wrong?"_

_"You've done nothing wrong" she said._

_"It's because of the kiss, isn't it?" he wondered "We could make like if it had never happened but… please, don't stop our friendship this way"_

_"That's not the way" she said._

_"Alright…" he said devastated "Then I… I'll leave and… don't worry I… won't come back again…" he stood up and took his jacket._

_"Don't!" she yelled out grabbing his arm and making some costumers to turn around and look at them "I don't want you to leave…"_

_"What do you want, then, Martha?" Lionel exclaimed losing his patience, and Martha hold his hand and took him to the backroom so nobody could see them "I'll do whatever you want" Lionel said once they had some privacy "You want me to be just your friend, I will… you want me to just be a costumer that comes every day to have his coffee… I will… but I need to know what you want"_

_"I don't know…" she said "I… I don't want to lose our friendship but…"_

_"But what?"_

_"But that kiss was too much special for me to just… forget it" she finally exploded._

_"It was special for me too" Lionel whispered approaching to her "And the truth is I'd like it to mean the beginning of something I've been wishing for since a long time ago"_

_There was a silence between them; while they looked at each other's eyes like trying to guess what was thinking the other. Then, Martha made a step forwards standing on her tiptoes to reach his lips with hers._

_"I don't know if it's going to work, but… I know I'll regret not trying it" she whispered after kissing him._

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


End file.
